Good food and less excessive than in prior years. I commended the Club's cruisers and got a pewter thing thing announcing ILENE's third place finish in the "Sprint to Louie's" race. Met up with Richard and Rosemary, who having sold their boat, will continue to commute between New Jersey and Florida, but no longer by sea. They sailed to Nova Scotia a few years ago and have promised to help me plan a route.
I sailed five more days during the second half of October, mostly with men and women of the Old F__ts, though not necessarily on Wednesdays. Some with more wind and others with less. One memorable sail was under the Throggs Neck and Whitestone Bridges in good wind beating and against the strong tidal current, followed by a quick return with the wind and tide at our back. Because ILENE was one of the few boats still operational, I had little difficulty finding companions.
A sixth sail, with Cynthia, was prevented by lack of wind; overcast grey skies but no wind. We ate our lunches aboard and were talking when I asked if she minded if I did some work in the cockpit while we continued our conversation. I removed the dodger and bimini. This was made difficult by the fact that these blue canvas covers had not been put up last October. Normally they are not up for more than six months. The metal parts of their plastic zippers has corroded somewhat and liberal application of lubricant was required to get them off. Cynthia was happy with a day out on the water despite the absence of sailing and, noticing some rust on the stainless, asked if she could help remove it. I broke out the Never Dull (cotton padding impregnated with an anti-oxidant solvent) and she did a good job.
The last passage of the season was with Rhoda and Lloyd, from the Harlem to the Huguenot Yacht Club, where ILENE will be hauled this winter. I had planned to move to the Huguenot next week but the imminent arrival of Hurricane Sandy sped up the time table. We motored the five miles, except I put out the small jib on the longest stretch, a starboard beat from Hart Island to the channel into New Rochelle Harbor, which heeled us a bit and gave us an extra knot. The only disappointment on this passage was the thwarting of my plan to fill ILENE's diesel tanks, en route, for the winter (to prevent condensation of water on their empty insides which means water in the fuel tanks). Both of the fuel docks in New Rochelle had been rented out to boats trying to find a safe place during the coming storm, preventing access to the docks. So several trips between local gas stations and the boat with jerry cans are in my near future. I had helped Lloyd and Rhoda bend on and remove their two smaller sails from "Jazz Sail" several times and they eagerly helped me remove ILENE's. But while I can do their sails alone in 20 minutes, it took 3.5 hours with their help to remove and fold ILENE's three large sails. So again, as with Cynthia the day before, I was the grateful recipient of several hours of unexpected free labor.
ILENE is currently on a floating dock at the Huguenot in a narrow strait, protected from the winds by the mainland to the north and Glen Island to the south. None of the huge waves that the Hurricane will kick up will bother her. She is tied to this dock with seven dock lines. All of her canvas has been removed as well as blocks, and lines -- thus further reducing windage.
But unfortunately she is not safe as of this writing. The floating dock to which she is tied is held in place by pilings -- telephone poles driven as piles into the earth beneath the water. Reinforced holes through the dock's surface surround the pilings. Thus the dock slides up these poles when the tide rises and falls when the tide goes out, and the boats tied to it rise and fall with the dock so that adjustments in the lengths of the dock lines are not necessary. The problem is that these pilings stick up about eight feet above the surface of the water at normal high tide. The problem/risk is that the water could rise A LOT MORE than eight feet above normal high tide. If this happens, the dock will slide off over the top of the pilings and, with ILENE attached, and her keel sticking down 5' 8", the combined unit will go where the winds blow it, onto rocks or other boats or docks. The largest cause of an abnormal high tide is the hurricane's winds which have been blowing from the northeast for several days and will intensify as the storm's center gets nearer. These winds blow ocean water into the Sound's eastern end, and with no place to go (Hell's Gate is too narrow), causes the water level to rise several feet above the normal tidal level. Three other factors aggravate the problem. (1) low atmospheric pressure (they call them tropical depressions or troughs) cause higher tides; (2) the full moon was only two days ago and full and new moons cause higher highs and lower lows; (3) all of the heavy rain falling into the Sound itself and on adjacent land and flowing from the rivers will further raise the water level in the Sound.
Our friends, Dean and Susan, of "Autumn Borne" are also on a floating dock in Portsmouth Virginia. They are living aboard during the storm and we are praying for each other. Our boats are insured, but that is not a claim anyone wishes to make. The highs of the tidal cycles in New York will be between 1 and 2 AM and PM these stormy days and nights. There is nothing else we can do for ILENE until the storm passes. We can't get to her by foot or by boat. Yesterday afternoon I joined with many other members in hauling several boats and finally hauling the launch itself. We also took the ground floor furniture upstairs. A six foot above normal tide will flood the ground floor.
We are home, on the seventh floor, far from the edge of Manhattan, with food, water, flashlights, portable radios and phones. Let's read a good book. Will let you know how it ends.
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